Resources Top 5: ASX juniors rise as they turn focus from James Bay lithium

Investors pour into James Bay Minerals after (non-JORC) 800,000oz gold buy in Nevada
District neighbour Patriot Lithium rises on pivot to African copper
Interest in Labyrinth continues after Comet Vale purchase

Here are the biggest small cap resources winners in morning trade, Monday, October 14. Prices accurate at time of writing.

James Bay Minerals (ASX:JBY)

JBY has surprised the bourse today, resurfacing with a minimum $2.4m acquisition of the advanced, high-grade Independence gold project in Battle Mountain, Nevada.

The company is a large landholder in the James Bay region, accumulating 416km2 of ground across the Joule, Aero, Aqua and La Grande East projects that sit in the La Grande sub-province.

The explorer has been heavily concentrated on proving up lithium projects in Quebec, Canada, and the move into a US gold project may have come out of left field for many investors.

But with lithium subdued and gold prices at record highs of ~US$2650/oz, it’s an understandable pivot into a corner of the market that is on a tear.

Independence includes the high grade Skarn deposit, which boasts a N43-101 compliant (non-JORC) 796,000oz resource at 6.53g/t gold and has mineralised strike open in all directions.

The project is near Nevada Gold Mines’ Phoenix project and 16km south of Battle Mountain, a fully-serviced mining town.

A recent, near-surface, high-grade discovery hole outside the existing Independence resource “demonstrates outstanding potential for rapid growth”, according to the junior.

A highlight hit includes 24.4m at 9.11g/t gold and 25.2g/t silver at hole Hole AGEI-32, including 18.3m at 12.06g/t and 30.7g/t silver.

Terms of the deal include $2.4m worth of shares to earn an initial 51.54% ownership and the right to earn the remaining 48.46% over a two-year period.

JBK stocks are up a massive 65%, heavily traded to swap at 33c a share at time of writing.

Patriot Lithium (ASX:PAT)

(Up on no news)

It’s not the only James Bay explorer pushing the button on diversification, with Patriot up a few days after snapping up the Katwaro copper project in Zambia.

The ressie junior has high grade lithium projects in North America, including the Gorman project near JBY’s tenements in James Bay, along strike from Frontier Lithium’s C$330m PAK-Spark deposit.

PAT had an abrupt halt to exploration at Gorman, failing to receive access from the Sandy Lake First Nation group as it was about to conduct maiden drilling across an identified 5.2km-long spodumene-bearing pegmatite trend.

Quebec has new regulations that require explorers to apply for authorisation to carry out any work that will “impact the land” – including hydraulic and explosive work for excavation, drilling, rock stripping or road building.

A hangover from past bad mining practices, the changes enable First Nations groups to have more say with work at the exploration stage.

There are also looming changes to the Province’s Bill 63, imposing broader conditions in its Mining Act and obligations on mining claim holders to “strengthen transparency and increase efficiency for the entire Quebec mineral industry,” according to the provincial government.

Speaking on the Katwaro buy, PAT says copper, like lithium, is an essential ingredient in the battery metals complex and for many other industrial uses and will complement its existing assets and provide jurisdictional diversity.

Whatever the reasons, PAT is now entering Africa and completing due diligence of Katwaro as it continues negotiations over land access and is looking to recommence exploration across its lithium projects once the shift into the spring season in Canada allows land access.

Shares in the multi-commodity explorer have rebounded up 31% today to add to a 57% rise in stock price over the past month to trade at 5.5c.

Labyrinth Resources (ASX:LRL)

(Up on no news)

LRL is on the rise today with interest likely based off starting to drill at its Comet Vale project in WA’s Goldfields region.

The company will initially be targeting extensions to historical shallow high grade gold intercepts at the Cheer prospect, followed by drilling at the Sovereign trend and then the Lake View trend at the tenure.

“This is an exciting first step for Labyrinth since the acquisition of the Vivien Gold Project and subsequent changes to management [recently],” CEO Charles Hughes says.

“Labyrinth has a strategy to build and grow high-quality, high- grade gold resources at projects close to transport and milling infrastructure in the Goldfields of Western Australia and the only way to do this is to drill.”

Shares are up >10% today, trading for 2.1c.

Killi Resources (ASX:KLI)

(Up on no news)

KLI has shot up once again, yet there are no updates from its current drilling campaign at the Kaa prospect at its Mt Rawdon West project in QLD.

It’s the first time the virgin ground has been drilled into and KLI has interpreted Kaa to potentially host a new epithermal gold system for the region – which could be huge for the explorer.

Soil and rock chip analysis had returned high levels of gold, silver, copper, antimony and other rare metals with assays of up to 238g/t gold, 585g/t silver, 2860ppm bismuth, 5.35% copper and 3.58% antimony.

First assay results from the a maiden drilling campaign are due imminently.

KLI today is continuing its astronomical rise from a 4c minnow to now trade at 17.5c a share in just shy of three months.

Legacy Minerals (ASX:LGM)

An interesting riser on the ASX today is LGM, which has just returned anomalous results of up to 9.32% copper, 3.9g/t gold, 415g/t silver and 0.66% antimony associated with quartz veined and brecciated Ordovician mafic-ultramafic rocks.

Mapping also identified multiple new workings and vein trends, defining a 3km2 area of anomalous mineralisation.

LGM notes the untested Crystal Hill prospect, which has only seen a small number of shallow reconnaissance holes drilled over 25 years ago, is less than 20km from the large Bushranger porphyry deposit and hosted in the same aged volcanics and has extremely thick drill intercepts of up to 920m grading 0.3% copper from 110m.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While James Bay Minerals, Labyrinth Resources and Legacy Minerals Holdings are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.